Sociable

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Because I am very busy at work, I had to delay posting about three earthquakes I felt yesterday. I have about an hour of rare free time, and will share my interesting experience.

Yesterday morning, just before 10 am PST, in Palm Springs, a conversation I was having was interrupted by what at first seemed like an explosion. In fact later on, as I spoke with other people, most others reported hearing a bang or an explosion!

After the bang, the windows rattled and bowed just like they would from an explosion, and I went outside only to see a puddle of water vibrate. Then I was aware of the ground shaking a bit.

This event seemed to last about ten seconds, and it clearly felt like a 5 mag event. I looked on the USGS site, which took a while to report the event. Once it was up, the quakes were first reported at being 4.7 to 5.1. Three strong earthquakes were reported, along with a dozens of fore and aftershocks.

Recently I have learned that often the USGS lowers the magnitude of strong and high moderate earthquakes for insurance reasons. We live in a nation and a time where business and science mixes, and objectivity comes in second to money.

We need to go back to telling the truth with science. This event was clearly 5 mag and not 4.7.

About Me

Award winning filmmaker.
I write about geology, aerospace and also a novel series called the Diablo Diaries, featuring a whacky character named Prince Stephan. Also I produce and direct film, both feature and documentary. Working on a documentary about the eastern California rifting zone, and co-produced the movie Defcon 2012.
Serious publishers, agents, producers or serious questions, please E-mail us at: liechtensteinfilms@live.com